The former TOWIE star found herself plonked in the middle of a sea of surgery rumours after she attended the Big Chocolate Tea Party in Mayfair with a noticeably fuller face.

The Essex girl's cheeks and lips were strangely plump – making the 28-year-old almost unrecognisable from her former natural self.

But Lauren has finally spoken out over the rumours regarding her relationship with the surgeon's knife, and claims her super-plump face was all down to a skin peel.

In her column for New! magazine, the ex of Mark Wright said: "While I was in LA, I had a mild CO2 laser procedure done to my face, but that’s it. It burns off the top layer of your skin so you develop new skin cells to make your face smoother, firmer and younger looking.

RUMOUR HAS IT: The Essex girl was attacked by allegations of cosmetic surgery [WENN]

“I looked like a chipmunk when I left the clinic, but it’s calmed down since”

Lauren Goodger

"I had it done around my eyes and mouth to bring out the natural collagen and the doctor warned me my face would stay puffy for up to two weeks afterwards.

"I looked like a chipmunk when I left the clinic, but it’s calmed down since."

And the tanning guru also claims not to have dabbled in certain injections favoured by her TOWIE castmates.

She added: "Contrary to some claims, I’ve not had Botox."

Lauren has admitted to undergoing a nose job, as well as boosting her assets to a 34E last year.

But while she claims that's all the help she has had from the doctor in terms of her looks, there's no denying the reality star looks drastically different than she did just a few short years ago.

BACK IN THE DAY: Lauren looked drastically different back in 2010 [WENN]

Lauren was also accused of having lip-plumping collagen injections after she modelled a boosted trout pout in her many selfies.

But she had an answer for that too – putting her juicy smackers down to clever make-up.

She said: "I can assure you I haven’t had anything done – it’s just clever make-up. I bought a lip-plumping product from MAC that makes your lips look really full.

"The lip liner I had on also made them look fuller. I’ve also made my eyebrows darker so they look more defined."

To be fair to Miss Goodger, her face has definitely lost its inflated appearance since the charity bash – so maybe we should give her the benefit of the doubt.

BACK TO NORMAL: The swelling on Lauren's face has gone away [INSTAGRAM]